Simple Past Tense | Definition, formula, exercises.

Simple Past Tense.

Tense is taken from the ‘Latin’ word which means time. In English grammar, we have ‘3’ tenses that talk about three different timings. Like the present, past, and future. Each of these tenses has its 4 kinds. In this article, we study simple past tense that talks about actions that happen in the past at a particular time.

Simple past tense definition.

Definition: A simple past tense definition is used to talk about an action started in the past and finished in the past at a specific/particular time. The simple past formula is subject + 2nd (verb) + object/ complement.

For instance:

• He played piano last night at 10 o’clock.

In this sentence, we should understand easily that the action occurred at exactly 10 p.m. last night.

Simple Past Tense Formula.

A) Positive formula:

The simple past tense formula is “Subject + 2^nd form of the verb + object+.” for positive sentences.

Examples within the sentence:

• I baked food at night.        
• She washed the clothes yesterday.
• He went to Bazar.                       
• They cleaned the room.
• We read the book last night.

B) Negative Formula:

The formula for the negative sentence is “Subject + auxiliary verb (did not) 1st verb + object”

Examples within the sentence:

• I did not bake food at night.        
• She did not wash her clothes yesterday.
• He did not go to Bazar.                       
• They did not clean the room.
• We did not read the book last night.

C) Interrogative Formula:

The formula for an interrogative sentence(simple past tense) is “auxiliary verb (did) + Subject + 1^st verb + object?”

Examples within the sentence:

• Did I bake food at night?        
• Did she wash the clothes yesterday?
• Did he go to Bazar?                       
• Did they clean the room?
• Did we read a book last night?

D) Negative/interrogative formula:

The formula for negative/ interrogative sentence(simple past tense formula) is “did not + subject + 1^st form of the verb + object?”

• Didn’t I bake food at night?        
• Didn’t she wash the clothes yesterday?
• Didn’t he go to Bazar?                       
• Didn’t they clean the room?
• Didn’t we read a book last night?

Relevant Grammars:

Simple Present Tense:

Present Perfect Tense:

Simple future tense:

Simple past tense exercises.

more related grammar.

Fill in the blanks correctly, and use simple past tense exercises.

1. He ______________ the homework last month. (finished, finish)
2. She ______________food for me yesterday. (cooking, cooked)
3. _______he knock the door last time?  (do, did)
4. The students _______ learn English. ( don’t, did not)
5. I ______ to market in the morning. (was, were, went)
6. _____she cook food last night? (was, were, did)
7. John and ken _______ with each other. (played, playing )
8. They _____the cloths. (wash, washed)
9. We _________ the meeting last night. ( joined, join)
10. __________ he play football? ( didn’t, does )
11. __________ she watch the movie? (Were, did)
12. why _________he come quickly? ( was not, did not)
13. She did not ___________the flow. ( plugged, plug)
14. John did ___________the dressing table. ( clean, cleaned)
15. I ___________the trick perfectly 🥰. ( play, played)

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check out the given answers correctly.

1. He finished the homework last month. (finished, finish)
2. She cooked food for me yesterday. (cooking, cooked)
3. Did he knock on the door last time?  (do, did)
4. The students did not learn English. (don’t, did not)
5. I went to the market in the morning. (was, were, went)
6. Did she cook food last night? (was, were, did)
7. John and Ken played with each other. (played, playing )
8. They washed the clothes. (wash, washed)
9. We joined the meeting last night. ( joined, join)
10. Did not he play football? ( didn’t, does )
11. Did she watch the movie? (Were, did)
12. why did not he come quickly? ( was not did not)
13. She did not plug the flow. ( plugged, plug)
14. John did not clean the dressing table. ( clean, cleaned)
15. I played the trick perfectly 🥰. ( play, played)

Put ‘t’ for the correct sentence and ‘f’ for the False sentence.

1. I play game last night.
2. She did not played well.
3. He did play the game.
4. We enjoyed the game.
5. Did they see the match?
6. John did not wanted to come.
7. Marry asked me many times.
8. Many and John did not find the dogs.
9. Did she found the correct address?
10. Didn’t he manage the conflict?
11. Sir John did not want to continue the project.
12. We had the chance to win.
13. She could play well.
14. Why didn’t they come on time?
15. Many cars were there.

Answers are given down.

1. I play a game last night. F
2. She did not played well. F
3. He did play the game. T
4. We enjoyed the game. T
5. Did they see the match? T
6. John did not wanted to come. F
7. Marry asked me many times. T
8. Many and John did not find the dogs. T
9. Did she found the correct address? F
10. Didn’t he manage the conflict? T
11. Sir John did not want to continue the project. T
12. We had the chance to win. T
13. She could play well. F
14. Why didn’t they come on time? T
15. Many cars were there. T

MCQs find out the correct options.

1. I did not _________to school yesterday.

• a) went
• b) go
• C) gone

2. We ____________to home, when she was cooking food.

• a) came
• b) come
• c) were coming

3. She _________ the discussion.

• a) manages
• b) managed
• c) managing

4. Did they __________on time?

• a) arrive
• b) arrived
• C) not arrived

5. We did not ______ the glasses.

• a) breakdown
• b) broke down
• c) broken down

6. Why____________ they make the paper on time?

• a) do
• b) were
• c) did not

7. Americans did not _________ coffee.

• a) wants
• b) like
• c) got

8. I ___________ the meeting with a clear vision.

• a) finished
• B) finish
• C) was finish

9. Who __________ pay on time?

• a) do
• b) did not
• c) were not

10. Why ____________I feel Well?

• a) do, not
• b) did, not
• c) were not

11. Khan did not __________ the main point.

• a) played
• b) read
• c) reading

12. Jonh and kamran _________ the room well.

• a) was cleaned
• b) cleaned
• c) cleaning

The answers are listed down.

1. go
2. came
3. managed
4. arrive
5. breakdown
6. did not
7. like
8. finished
9. did not
10. did not
11. read
12. cleaned

Simple past tense worksheet